Giant Squid With 16-Foot Tentacles Washes Up on Beach

A giant squid with 16-foot tentacles washed up on the South Island of New Zealand on Tuesday, looking more like a prop from the Hollywood horror movie than something from the ocean.

Representatives from the Kaikoura Marine Centre and Aquarium said that squid's mantle measured 6 ½ feet when it was discovered on Kaikoura beach this week, reported Time magazine. The center said the squid is now on display while parts of it were taken to Auckland and Otago universities for research.

A human comparison...she is a MASSIVE specimen considering Jay lying there is 1.83m...Now frozen on display at the...

"Before the birds got to it, we got help to move it to the aquarium where it is safe inside a freezer with glass windows so you can see it – on display until we can do more with it," the Kaikoura Marine Centre said on its Facebook page. "The mantle itself is over two (meters) long with a 19 (centimeter) eye diameter. The longest tentacle is just over five (meters). What a beast."

National Geographic noted that giant squid sightings are rare because they tend to live and die in deeper parts of the ocean. The largest giant squid ever found measured 59 feet long and weighed almost a ton.

"Their inhospitable deep-sea habitat has made them uniquely difficult to study, and almost everything scientists know about them is from carcasses that have washed up on beaches or been hauled in by fishermen," said Geographic.

"Giant squid, along with their cousin, the colossal squid, have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, measuring some 10 inches in diameter. These massive organs allow them to detect objects in the lightless depths where most other animals would see nothing," said Geographic.